Tree stands are open or enclosed platforms secured in trees to give a hunter or wildlife observer a better vantage point of wildlife on the ground. Hunters may mount gear in the tree stand, such as a camera, seat, bow or gun holder. Being elevated, it's necessary to use a ladder or steps to climb the tree to mount the stand in the tree, carry gear up to it, and use it. Because tree stands are often in relatively inaccessible locations where wild animals roam, it's advantageous for the ladders or steps to be easily portable.
Various methods of mounting steps to the trees have been developed. The most simple involves screwing several lag bolts into a tree by hand at increasing heights. Straight, L-shaped, or Z-shaped lag bolts are common. Of course, climbing a tree by stepping on slender bolts is not easy, especially when one is carrying gear and his boot soles are wet. For a better foothold, L-shaped steps with a wider tread have been devised that are attached to a tree by screwing a lag bolt through an aperture in the vertical portion of the L. These provide better foothold, except that the steps often rotate around the bolt as varying torque is applied when climbing. Clearly an improved step is desired.
It's often desirable to locate a tree stand near animal trails or other sites well-traveled by game. The best sites are limited by the location and whether there's a desirable tree at that location. Unfortunately, the best sites are popular for all hunters and wildlife aficionados, which makes it likely that many hunters will want to use the same desirable site. In some states the law expressly permits a hunter to use someone else's tree stand if it's on public land. This sets up a situation in which one hunter spends a significant amount time and effort to find a good site and set up his tree stand, only to come back later and find some other hunter using it. It would be desirable to be able to set up a stand and be able to re-use it during a season or even in subsequent seasons, while preventing others from using it. Another desire is to be able to set up tree stands in multiple locations and take various accessories from stand to stand as desired, without removing and replacing the stands each time. For example, a tree stand may be set up in one spot for deer hunting and in another spot for elk hunting, yet the hunter will want to use the same seat and bow holder at each stand. Conventional tree-stands would require a hunter to removing and replacing the stand at each spot each time and have duplicate equipment in each tree stand.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide an apparatus to enable a hunter to removably mount desired equipment in a tree stand while preventing others from using the equipment.